1851-O Seated Liberty Half Dime
Circulation strike struck at the New Orleans Mint · 860,000 made
- Mintage
- 860,000
- Metal
- 90% silver, 10% copper
- Weight
- 1.34 g
- Diameter
- 15.5 mm
Original illustration. Tap to flip. Not a photograph of the actual coin.
Face value · Metal value · Small premium · Collector premium · Significant rarity. We use bands because prices change daily.
What is an 1851-O Seated Liberty Half Dime worth?
Collectors pay a real premium for this date, worn or not, because far fewer were made than usual. Uncirculated pieces go much higher.
What would make yours worth more:
- Uncirculated condition with full original luster
- A die variety or minting error
- Certification by PCGS or NGC, which buyers expect for scarce dates
For market prices, check recent sold results for certified coins in the same grade.
Quick answers
- Is the 1851-O Seated Liberty Half Dime rare?
- Somewhat. 860,000 were made, fewer than most dates, so collectors treat it as a semi-key.
- Is the 1851-O Seated Liberty Half Dime silver?
- Yes. It's 90% silver, 10% copper and holds 0.0388 troy ounces of pure silver.
- Where is the mint mark on an 1851 Seated Liberty Half Dime?
- On the reverse, below the bow of the wreath or inside the wreath, depending on the year. Philadelphia coins have no mint mark. On this coin the mark is O, for New Orleans.
- Which New Orleans dates near 1851 are scarcer?
- The 1849-O at 140,000, the 1853-O at 160,000, the 1852-O at 260,000, plus 3 more. So the 1851-O is one of the easier dates of its stretch.
- How many 1851-O Seated Liberty Half Dime coins were made?
- 860,000.
What to check on your 1851-O
- Make sure the mint mark really is a O. A worn or filled mark can be misread. It's what separates your coin from the 1851 (781,000 made).
- Don't clean it. Cleaning leaves fine scratches and an unnatural shine that collectors avoid.
- Old coins pick up damage over a long life. Look for holes, bends, scratches or signs of cleaning before you judge the grade, because a damaged coin sells for a fraction of a problem-free one.
- Judge the grade under good light. LIBERTY on the shield wears first; a full LIBERTY marks Fine or better. These tiny coins are often bent, cleaned or holed.
Never clean it. Collectors pay strong premiums for original surfaces and natural toning on a date like this. A cleaned coin can lose half its value or more.
The story of the 1851-O
Output at New Orleans climbed to 860,000 in 1851, from 690,000 the year before. The next year it made 260,000 (1852-O).
1851 came to 781,000, so neither mint's 1851 coin is much scarcer than the other. In the whole series, its mintage sits closest to the 1872-S (837,000) and the 1841-O (815,000).
New Orleans struck the Seated Liberty Half Dime in 21 issues between 1838 and 1860. By mintage this one lands in the more common half, while the key for that mint is the 1838-O (70,000). Within the 1850s it's 9th smallest of 22, between the 1851 (781,000) and the 1850 (955,000).
The 1846 and the silver squeeze (1846 to 1852)
Philadelphia struck just 27,000 half dimes in 1846, the key of the decade and one of the rarest dates in the series. Output recovered to 1,274,000 in 1847. In 1848 Philadelphia used Medium Date and Large Date dies for its 668,000 coins, while New Orleans struck 600,000. The 1849 Philadelphia total of 1,309,000 includes the 1849/6 and 1849/8 overdates, made by recutting older date dies. The 1849-O, at 140,000, is another scarce date. New Orleans struck no half dimes from 1845 to 1847, then returned with 600,000 in 1848.
Gold from California made silver more valuable from about 1849. By 1850 the silver in a half dime was worth a little more than five cents, so many new coins were melted or sent abroad. Mintages stayed fairly high anyway. Philadelphia struck between 781,000 and 1,000,500 a year from 1850 to 1852 and New Orleans between 260,000 and 860,000. The 1852-O, at 260,000, is the scarcer coin of those years. Congress answered the shortage in 1851 with the three-cent silver coin, which held less silver than its face value so it could not profitably be melted.
For the 1846, check the date closely because altered dates exist. For the 1849, look at the last digit under strong magnification for traces of an earlier 6 or 8. All half dimes of this period still weigh 1.34 grams.
Elsewhere in US coinage in 1851
The three-cent silver piece was introduced in 1851 so people could buy the new three-cent postage stamps. It was the lightest coin the United States has ever issued.
How to recognize it
Liberty sits on a rock with her right hand on a shield crossed by a scroll reading LIBERTY and her left hand holding a pole topped by a liberty cap. The 1837 and 1838-O half dimes show nothing else on the obverse but the date. From 1838 to 1859 thirteen stars ring the design and from 1860 they are replaced by UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. Drapery falls from her left elbow on coins from late 1840 on. Arrows beside the date mark the lighter coins of 1853 to 1855. Until 1859 the reverse shows HALF DIME inside a laurel wreath circled by UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. From 1860 a cereal wreath of corn, wheat, maple and oak leaves surrounds HALF DIME alone. Mint marks for New Orleans and San Francisco are on the reverse near the bow.
Mintage chart
Specifications
| Series | Seated Liberty Half Dime (1837–1873) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1851 |
| Mint | New Orleans Mint |
| Mint mark | "O" |
| Strike type | Circulation strike |
| Mintage | 860,000 |
| Face value | 5¢ |
| Composition | 90% silver, 10% copper |
| Weight | 1.34 grams |
| Diameter | 15.5 mm |
| Edge | Reeded |
| Silver content | 0.0388 troy oz (1.206 g) |
| Designer | Christian Gobrecht |
Other 1851 Seated Liberty Half Dime issues
| Coin | Mintage | Type | Silver |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1851 Seated Liberty Half Dime | 781,000 | Circulation strike | 0.0388 oz |
| 1851-O Seated Liberty Half Dime | 860,000 | Circulation strike | 0.0388 oz |
Mintage: US Mint records as published in standard references, each figure checked against at least two independent sources. How we build these pages.